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The Power of Drudge!

by Conservativity Staff,
Originally Posted: 11/2/2004

Matt Drudge is reviled by the media and elite leftists.  They call him a gossipmonger.  When Drudge broke the story of the American Al-Qaeda tape, I called in to a talk radio show, and the screener asked me how I could possibly believe Drudge.  Well, as is most often the case, Drudge was right on.

Today, Drudge broke the first exit polls.  When they showed that Kerry appeared to be running strongly, the stock market tanked, going from a brisk gain to a loss in less than 45 minutes.  Drudge then found out and broke that the polls are skewed, with 59% females polled.  Since single women are a Kerry base, these polls dramatically overstate Kerry’s position, by about five points.  In that event, the president is winning in Ohio and Florida, and has a commanding Electoral lead, taking Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Florida and New Mexico!

Look at his power.  He writes about 45 words and can with those words swing the stock market over 100 points in an hour!  His site is seen tens of millions of times per day, and it is one of the most visited on the Internet.  However, to quote Spider-Man’s uncle, Great power comes with great responsibility.  Drudge breaks ’em fast and sometimes reckless.  If he would have verified facts on the exit poll, he could have led with the skew, and indicate that the results probably favor our president.  Sean Hannity said today that Drudge "scared everyone" with that lead.  Heck, it scared me!

But Drudge’s occasional forays into overspeedy reporting need to be balanced against the massive good he has done to the news.  Matt Drudge is the gateway to the blog universe, where facts are checked and vetted and the elite media’s collective feet are held to the fire.  Without Drudge, the forged document scandal may have toppled the president.  Instead, it toppled C-BS and Dan Rather, making them the laughingstock of the punditry of the right, and leaving the left-wingers embarassed and flustered.

ABC was called on the carpet for sitting on the American Al-Qaeda tape.  C-BS and the New York Times had a plot for a massive October surprise.  Well, Drudge dropped it on the world and the fact checkers defused it.

The world hiccups when Matt Drudge’s site changes.  This is massive power.  Thank God he is responsible with his power.